REDEFINING THE ROLE OF COMPUTERS IN ARCHITECTURE: FROM DRAFTING/MODELLING TOOLS TO KNOWLEDGE-BASED DESIGN ASSISTANTS.

This paper argues that in order to realize such improvements the modelling/drafting role computers have been assigned in architectural design should be changed, so that computers will become intelligent assistants to designers, relieving them from the need to perform the more trivial design tasks and augmenting their decision making capabilities. To support this argument, architectural design is modelled as a search process in a space of alternative solutions, seeking one or more solutions that satisfy certain design criteria. Design is shown to be a special case of general problem-solving processes, and thus comprised of two major components: design states and the generator/test cycle that facilitates transitions between them.